Bethel women down McPherson in finale

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By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

The Kansan - Newton, KS

By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

Posted Feb. 19, 2013 at 4:49 PM

By Mark Schnabel?Newton Kansan

Posted Feb. 19, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Newton, Kan.

McPHERSON — The Bethel College women’s basketball team didn’t have a playoff spot to play for, but still came through in the season finale, stopping McPherson College 79-57 Saturday in McPherson.?Bethel ends the season 8-19, 4-14 in KCAC play. McPherson falls to 14-14, 8-10 in KCAC play. The Bulldogs will be seeded sixth in the KCAC post-season tournament, opening at Tabor. Bethel finished in a tie for eighth, but lost the head-to-head tie-breaker against Bethany.?Bethel sweeps the regular-season series against McPherson.?“I was really proud of the ladies — how they responded to this being our last game of the season; how they handled the pressure applied by McPherson — this was their senior night, and we also knew they’d come out fired up since we beat them at our place; and, how they gave us something to go into the off-season feeling positive about,” Bethel coach Mark Fox said. “I’ve said it many times throughout the year, we knew once we lost Chelsea (Harris) and April (Harpe) that a significant number of our young kids were going to be put into a position of contribution, maybe before they were ready. Consequently, we immediately set our focus on improvement versus counting the number of wins we recorded. To that end, I honestly think Coach (Brian) Huxman and I can say that we were successful this season. I really feel like we are better today than we were when we started on Oct. 1.”?Bethel hit 27 of 57 from the field, five of 20 from 3-point range. McPherson was 16 of 58 from the field, three of 20 from 3-point range. Bethel was outscored 22-20 from the free throw line with seven fewer attempts.?Bethel led 34-27 at the half, continuing to pull away in the second half.?Freshman Lauren Ulrich led the Threshers with 20 points. Katie Regier had 16 points and 20 rebounds. Jessica Ebenkamp added 12 points.?Tayler Puttergill led McPherson with 11 points. Cami Engelbert added nine points.?“I thought the energy and focus we came out with right from the jump was very important because it allowed us to settle into the game, and it may have had them pushing some panic buttons when they weren’t expecting, I’m sure, to be pushed in this game,” Fox said. “Katie Regier did a phenomenal job of providing energy with how she attacked the rim offensively and also any ball up for grabs on missed shots. She had a double-double by half, and I thought she might have an outside shot of catching Hannah’s (Blackburn) single game rebounding record. Jessica Ebenkamp and Brie Zerger were great at applying pressure at the point of attack for McPherson, and the Lauren Ulrich may have had one of her most complete games of the season, as she threw up a stat line of 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.?“The thing that excites us is that we don’t lose anyone to graduation, and this group of kids form a tremendous nucleus upon which we can build. They’re going to commit to getting bigger, faster and stronger in the off-season, and Coach Huxman and I are working our tails off trying to bring in some necessary pieces to help us get back to competing at the top of this conference.”